


Taking Chances

by DeeNotMe



Series: Rain [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Confessions, F/M, Rain, Slice of Life, i don't know what to tag lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-27
Updated: 2017-04-27
Packaged: 2018-10-24 14:27:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10743567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeeNotMe/pseuds/DeeNotMe
Summary: Raindrops slide down the windows, and he's staring passively at the scene outside, paying close to zero attention to the Literature class he's in.A chair's dragged back. A voice floats through the classroom, carrying an answer that has him glancing from the window towards its owner.Then he notices you.





	Taking Chances

**Author's Note:**

> This was strongly inspired by an anime film called Garden of Words, and I highly, highly recommend it to everyone! It is absolutely brilliant.

**v.**

 

_Rain symbolises loneliness and weight of all the decisions made wrong._

 

He reads out his answer to the teacher's question.

 

The question - what do you think rain symbolises? - is written down on the blackboard in a handwriting that he finds hard to read, yet it's probably better than his. As the teacher nods, acknowledging his answer, he sits back down. He ignores the thumbs up that Oikawa gives him.

 

Instead, he turns his gaze out the window.

 

It's raining.

 

Another chair in the classroom is pulled back, but he barely pays any attention. People say there isn't any fixed answer when it comes to Literature, yet everyone gives similar ones. That's what he thought.

 

So when he heard a voice, albeit shaky from nervousness, give an answer wholly new and different from the rest, he glanced away from the window to look for its owner.

 

That's the first time he notices you.

 

 

 

**iv.**

 

He stands at the school gate waiting, annoyed because he’s been waiting for so long. 

 

Raindrops land on his umbrella with soft platters but slide down its nylon canopy noiselessly, landing on the concrete and forming small puddles that he has to avoid. His phone vibrates in his back pocket - a text from Oikawa saying he’ll be there soon. He doesn’t understand why he spends time on romance.

 

The sound of rain almost drowns it out, but he hears it nevertheless - the splashes that cause his to look up. Water splashes up on his shoes and the bottom of his pants as you duck past him, squeaking a quick apology before rushing towards the bus stop.

 

You don’t have an umbrella, so your hands are acting as one.

 

He hesitates, glancing towards the school building for Oikawa. His face morphs into an irked expression that’s directed towards his childhood friend as he starts towards the bus stop and calls out your name.

 

He knows he shouldn’t, but he can’t help but find the way you’re shaking the raindrops of your arms and bouncing on the balls of your feet amusing. As you startle and turn around, his gaze drops to your wet uniform, and a blush dusts his cheekbones before he averts his gaze.

 

“Are you waiting for a bus?”

 

“Ah, no.” You glance at the train station, its outline blurred by the rain. “I’m in a rush, so I’m going to the train station.”

 

“Here.” Before he knows what he’s doing, he holds out his umbrella. He’ll have to share one with Oikawa later. “You can borrow my umbrella.”

 

And that’s the first time he’s seen you smile.

****  
  


 

**iii.**

 

He's rummaging through his bag, looking for the one thing that could save him from getting wet in the downpour. After searching through it for the third time, he sighs and accepts the fact that he was going to have to wait until Oikawa's done dealing with his fangirls. Again. Just his luck that it'd rain on the one day he forgets to bring his umbrella.

 

Either wait for Oikawa, or run through the rain. He might actually prefer the latter.

 

"Iwaizumi-san?"

 

Your voice from the doorway startles him. He realises that he can recognise it now.

 

"Did you forget to bring your umbrella?"

 

You hit the nail on the head. He grimaces, and you laugh. It brightens up the classroom more than the lights ever can. He thinks it's possibly the loveliest sound he has heard.

 

He sighs and swings his bag over his shoulder. "I'll just run to the train station."

 

"Um! We can share my umbrella." You push out before you lose the courage to. "I'm going to the train station too. It's a little small but I wouldn't want you to get wet. I mean, if you want to..."

 

He blinks. Your cheeks are pink. He finds the colour beautiful on your skin.

 

"I'll leave myself in your care, then."

 

"O-of course." You stammer, taking out an umbrella with raindrop decals.  The corners of his lips tilt up into a smile.

 

It's the first time he finds himself grateful for the rain.

****  
  


 

**ii.**

 

He smiles more. He talks more. He laughs more. It’s in this way - little by little - that you go from being acquaintances to something else. Friends, maybe.

 

His friends start to notice how he brightens up around you.

 

Hanamaki says it's just a crush; Matsukawa says it's a mere friendship. Oikawa chirps in suggesting that it's lust. He gets a volleyball thrown in his face.

 

“Then which is it, Iwa-chan?” 

 

He clucks his tongue, and even though he nags at Oikawa to continue volleyball practice instead of answering the question, his uncertain expression says enough.

 

When practice finally ends, he opens the gym doors to find you standing outside. You tilt your umbrella back so that you can look up at him without it obscuring your view. Raindrops drip down the metal frames.

 

“It’s raining.” You point out the obvious, cheeks tinting red when you realise. “Do you want to walk back together?”

 

He blinks, heart skipping a beat at your offer. Then he remembers. “My umbrella’s in class.”

 

Yet you smile. “It’s alright. I’ll wait.”

 

You’re still standing in the same spot waiting for him when he rushes back, your soft hues brightening at the sight of his spiked dark hair.

 

“You seriously waited?”

 

Rhetorical question. You laugh and answer it anyway. “Well, I did say I would.”

 

Your laugh is like a beautiful melody playing in his ears.

 

He thinks back to when Hanamaki teased him for the crush he claimed Iwaizumi had on you, Matsukawa rolling his eyes and saying that it’s mere friendship.

 

It’s the first time he’s so aware of the painful squeeze of his heart, the skip in its thunderous beats when your eyes meet his and his name rolls off your tongue.

****  
  


 

**i.**

 

"Graduation's in less than a month."

 

He nods, affirming your statement. "Are you excited?"

 

He thinks you'd say no. You're happy and contented with high school, and he knows that you're aware of how much work comes with college. Instead, you surprise him with saying yes.

 

You grin as he blinks. "I don't want to be stuck in high school, feeling contented but unsure of whether I'm supposed to be an adult or a mere student who hasn't experienced life. I kind of want some change, you know?

 

"And maybe I'll find someone in college, too."

 

"You can't." The words burst out of his mouth without the permission to do so, and you pause, gaze questioning.

 

His umbrella bumps against yours as you walk, startling the raindrops that latch themselves onto the canopy, causing them to slide down and cling to the end of the metal frames, as if in a dilemma of whether they should let go or stay hanging. It's precarious, and reminds him just the slightest of his situation with you.

 

Somedays, he wishes this attraction he feels for you would just disappear. Somedays, he wishes graduation would come quickly - maybe then his attraction for you would diminish. Somedays, he wishes he's Oikawa, so that he could have his courage to ask you, and his grace if you say no.

 

He's hanging by the tips of his fingers, just like the raindrops clinging to the metal frames. Whatever he feels for you keeps him suspended in that position. But maybe he should just let go...

 

He covers his slip up, scoffing. "Your expectations are too high for an average guy to reach."

 

You laugh, eyes twinkling with billions of tiny stars as you glance at him with amusement. “Fine. At least I'll have you."

 

His heart skips a beat, then swells, filled with a sort of renewed hope.

 

... If only it was that easy to let go, right?

 

For the first time, he gives a name to the conflicting feelings that stir in his chest whenever he thinks of you. 

 

He calls it love.

****  
  


 

**nulla.**

 

It's going to rain on his graduation day, judging by the dark clouds in the sky. Maybe it's a bad omen. At least it didn't start raining before the ceremony ended, though.

 

He waiting for Oikawa again, knowing that he's accepting second buttons that are pressed into his hand with a counterfeit smile. Sometimes, he wants to punch his friend, for keeping that facade up all the time. But then again, maybe he doesn't have the right to say anything to Oikawa when he's putting on his act of his own.

 

He fiddles with his umbrella, wondering if he should open it.

 

Light footsteps cause him to look up with a scowl that fades when he realises it's not Oikawa who's walking towards him.

 

It's you. Already, your umbrella is open, the raindrop decals making you easy to identify.

 

“Hey,” your cheeks are pink, hands fidgety, and maybe… Just maybe, you feel the same kind of nervousness that comes with standing in front of each other, knowing that there’s something to be said.

 

But maybe that’s just him. His lips curve into a smile anyways.

 

"Hey. It's going to rain."

 

"I know," you lightly bump his head with your umbrella. "It seems like it's always raining."

 

 

Your smile is small but bright as you glance up to meet his gaze. It's like looking at the sun. "Sometimes, on days like this, I wonder what rain really means."

 

You play with your fingers, and he thinks of the raindrops sliding down the windows in the classroom. He thinks of himself, standing up to read out his answer to the teacher's question. He thinks of falling asleep in that Literature class full of boring, united opinions.

 

Not for the first time, he remembers the words that had first attracted him to you.

 

And he quotes, smiling.

 

_"'Rain is the lost chances; golden opportunities that weren't taken. It symbolises the regrets of someone.'"_

 

You laugh, and maybe this will be goodbye. Maybe you'll walk off and he'll never see you again. Maybe you'll go to college and find someone else.

 

Because even if he lets the words out - lets the 'I love you' out - things might not work out the way he wants them to. Yet he swallows his fears with his heart in this throat, because he'd rather face rejection than regret. He opens his mouth again, heart squeezing in his chest, a proclamation sitting on his tongue. A proclamation of like, of love?

 

Did it matter?  
  
  
All he knows is that for the first time, he's taking this chance.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! <3


End file.
